FLOWERY BRANCH - Keith Brooking will be in the Georgia Dome several hours before the Falcons' 1 p.m. kickoff with St. Louis, so the five-time Pro Bowl linebacker won't see all the fans flocking to his team's regular season finale.

January 03, 2009|
BY GEORGE HENRY
The Associated Press
|Atlanta Falcons

GLENDALE, Ariz. - One staged a remarkable one-season turnaround with a smooth, efficient rookie at the controls. The other emerged from a legacy of losing behind the ageless arm of a gunslinging veteran.

Falcons' fans everywhere are excited about and shocked by the remarkable turnaround that the team has experienced this season. After dragging through a 4-12 season last year, on in which Atlanta's franchise quarterback was imprisoned on federal dogfighting charges and its coach left for the University of Arkansas with three games to go on the schedule, Atlanta was poised to spend the next few years mired in mediocrity. But the franchise bounced back and finished the 2--8 regular season 11-5 and received a wild card spot in the NFC playoffs where it will take on the Arizona Cardinals at ...

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Falcons have had "preliminary discussions" with a developer that wants to build a $1 billion retractable roof stadium at the sprawling site of a closed General Motors plant in suburban Atlanta, the team's president said Wednesday.